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I am working on a #NaNoWriMo18 #LGBTQwrimo #NaNoLanta story. I’ll update on the next day or two. All the things.

I do have a question: Would you like to see a newsletter on your inbox of future releases, ARCs, and a freebie story? If so, comment here. I’m looking into setting one up monthly, possibly as frequent as weekly.

Josh Harris is all dad all the time. A busy college professor and devoted single father, Josh tries to be happy with only his son for company. But then Bradley “Trex” Trexler moves in across the street with his stepbrother, Bogo, and takes advantage of their empty home, making it into a haunted house for Halloween.

Josh’s son, Ernie, can’t wait to go, so Josh dresses up like a movie cowboy and saunters over. It’ll be the best Halloween of Ernie’s life, but there’s another sharpshooter roaming the dark corridors, and this one might have a special treat for Josh….

Second Edition

First Edition published by Etopia Press in Halloween Heat (IV anthology), October 2012.

A voice drawled, “I’m not sure there’s room for two gunslingers in this town.”

Josh slowly raised his head. Doc Holliday, aka Trex, stood at the other end of the
hall. Black hat, dark three-piece suit, a gun at his side, and a delicate
handkerchief tinged with blood that was the clue to the character—Holliday had
died of TB. The western garb fit perfectly on that tall, athletic body. The
real Holliday never looked so good. Josh wanted to drool.

Josh smiled, but Trex didn’t break character, his gaze resting steady and dangerous
on Josh’s face. Okay, two could play. Josh scowled like a man who gazed into
the sun all day and chewed the stump of cigar in his mouth. He rested a hand on
his toy six-shooter. “You want to try me?” The words were out. What did I just
say?

Trex/Holliday sauntered toward him, spurs jingling. He came face-to-face with Josh and
cracked a hint of a smile. “Show me what you got.”

He’d called his bluff. “Uh, oh, I….”

Trex reached up and slowly took the unlit stogy from Josh’s teeth. He slipped a hand
around Josh’s neck and—holy crap!—he pressed a hot mouth over Josh’s lips with
a hint of warm tongue. Their hats bumped and Josh’s fell backward. He grabbed
for it, their teeth knocked together, their noses squashed, and Trex pulled
back, laughing. “I guess we know that cowboys didn’t spontaneously seduce each
other. Too much shit to get in the way.”

Josh knew his eyes were wide, and he was having trouble keeping his breath even. “Doing a
little cowboy experimentation, are we?” He reached down, grabbed his hat from
the floor, and put it back on.

Trex waved a hand down Josh’s body. “Hey, you come in oozing cowboy charisma, you gotta
expect some admiration.”

About the Author

Tara Lain writes the Beautiful Boys of Romance in LGBT romance novels that star her unique, charismatic heroes. Her best-selling novels have garnered awards for Best Series, Best Contemporary Romance, Best Erotic Romance, Best Ménage, Best LGBT Romance, Best Gay Characters, and more. Readers often call her books “sweet,” even with all that hawt sex, because Tara believes in love and her books deliver on happily-ever-after. In addition to writing dozens and dozens of romance novels, Tara also owns an advertising and public relations firm. Her love of creating book titles comes from years of manifesting ad headlines for everything from analytical instruments to semiconductors. She does workshops on both author promotion and writing craft. Together with her soulmate husband and her soulmate Dog, she recently realized a vision to live where there were a lot more trees and a lot fewer cars by moving to Ashland, Oregon. She hasn’t stopped smiling since.

Synopsis

College junior Liam Norcross is a hero. He willingly, even eagerly, risks his life to save a stranger as a murderous, deranged shooter moves methodically through the darkened theater on the Batcheldor College campus, randomly killing innocent men, women, and children.

The stranger he saves is college freshman Jason Tripp. Jase loses everything in the shooting: his girlfriend, who dies on the floor beside him, and his grip on emotional security. He struggles to regain a sense of safety in the world, finally leaving college to seek refuge in his hometown.

An inexplicable bond forms between the two men in the chaos and horror of the theater, and Liam fights to bring Jase back to the world he ran away from. When Jase returns to school, they’re drawn together as soulmates, and soon Liam and Jase fall into a turbulent romantic relationship. However, the rocky path to love cannot be smoothed until Jase rescues his hero in return by delving into his shady past and solving the mystery of Liam’s compulsion to be everybody’s savior.

Excerpt

At this point, he’s in the back of the theater, and the shooting hasn’t slowed down at all. Gunshots ring out steadily in the shadowy darkness…always in sets of three, letting me know where he is. I’m scared…so fucking scared…but not too scared to wonder what I did to deserve this special little slice of hell.

And I’m frozen…I can’t even move enough to swallow my spit. I know what I have to do—I have to search for Ginny, but I can’t since I’m frozen solid, like a leg of lamb in a walk-in freezer.

Pop-pop-pop…pop-pop-pop…

“I’ve been shot! Oh, sweet Jesus, I’ve been shot!”

Earsplitting blasts of sound—one, two, three. The gunshots have a life and a plan—no, a mission—all their own, to maim and kill by ripping through the flesh of everyone in this theater. I’m panting and sweating and wishing to God I knew how to pray because I’d so pray right now.

And as suddenly as it started, the shooting stops. Is it over? With the utmost caution, I exhale the breath I’ve been hanging on to so jealously…as if part of me fears I’ll never get the chance to take another. But one more wary breath moves in and out, and I know I have to get hold of myself so I can find her. Because it’s over now… yes, I think maybe it’s ov—

Pop-pop-pop…

Life-sucking and blood-spattering and gurgle-inducing, evenly spaced sets of three that are becoming so horribly predictable. I brace myself for the impact because I just know the next pop is going to come with excruciating pain that explodes in my head or my back or, if I’m lucky, my ass. Or, if I’m not so lucky, in all three places, one right after another.

This isn’t happening. It can’t be happening.

Is nineteen too old to want my mommy?

“Get down! Get on the floor!” Somebody yells. Too late for that warning. I’m already flat on the floor in the narrow space between the rows of seats; my head is bleeding all over the arm it’s resting on… My left arm? My right arm? Somebody else’s arm? Not so sure. Not so sure it matters.

“Don’t shoot me—please don’t—”

Pop-pop-pop…

“Put the gun down! Put it do-o-own!”

Pop-pop-pop…

I belly crawl forward a few inches and reach around in search of Ginny’s hand, but when I pat the floor all I can feel is a pool of blood that wasn’t there the last time I checked, and then there’s this cooling mound of flesh in its center.

“I don’t know what to do…” These words escape on a single breath followed by a few sharp coughs from an elderly man.

Pop-pop-pop…pop-pop-pop…

Annoying cough…forever suppressed.

Right after the second round of shots, when everybody had started rushing around, all frenzied and scrambling, I’d lost track of Ginny… In fact, I’d lost track of everything. Maybe because it had suddenly sunk into my stunned brain that this place was now a death chamber. My death chamber.

It seems as if so much time has passed since the first bullet whizzed past my right ear…that for a month or a year—or for my entire lifetime—I’ve been waiting for the gunshots to stop. But a tiny voice inside my head suggests that I’ve been in this living hell for less than five minutes, at most.

Pop-pop-pop…

Right after the shooting started, but before I lost Ginny, I caught a glimpse of the gunman’s silhouette against the bright stage. He’d seemed huge in his dark baggy clothing. He towered over the audience, or maybe it just seemed that way because he was pointing a long gun at us. I recognized the shooter from seeing him around campus. And when I saw his face profiled in the light—the bulging forehead, prominent nose, and receding chin—a name had sped through my brain, but soon the name was as lost to me as my girlfriend’s lax hand.

Pop-pop-pop…

The gunman doesn’t say a word; his weapon does the talking. And the deafening popping sounds are closer again, like the gun has something it wants to say to me personally…something like, “You’re gonna die today, Jason.”

“I’m gonna push on your back really hard, and I want you to squeeze as much of your body underneath the chairs as you can, got it?” The voice seems to come from a million miles away, but it’s coming from right behind me. On top of me, really. I feel his breath on the back of my neck.

Pop-pop-pop…pop-pop-pop…

“Are we going to die?” I’m not sure if I ask this or if it comes from the lips of the little old lady who’d been sitting on the other side of Ginny at the start of the play. The old lady who told us she’d come to the Harrison Theater to see her granddaughter play Ophelia in the Shakespeare in the Spring Performance Series, not to die in a hail of bullets. I know that Ginny didn’t ask the question, though. She’s been silent since the second volley of gunshots when her head slumped over unnaturally onto my shoulder, and by instinct, I’d pulled her to the floor.

Batcheldor College’s small theater has been called “an acoustic gem,” and right now, it’s ringing with the erratic sounds of screaming and moaning and crying and shouting and shooting. But most impressive is the resounding silence of the gunman, which speaks louder than words, or gunshots, ever could.

All in all, it’s noisy and confusing and crazy…the Beatles’ tune “Helter Skelter” comes to mind. This is not how I want to die. Mostly because I don’t want to die!

The guy on my back is poking a single finger into the blood on my head, then twisting in such a way that I think he’s reaching to his back…like maybe he’s smearing my blood there. I’m distracted from his action by the squealing of the fire alarm, and I find my blurry mind wondering if, in addition to the problem of a crazed gunman, we also have a fire to put out.

Would I prefer my death be a result of hungry flames or a hail of bullets?

“We’re gonna survive; just stay still. Completely still. ’Kay?” I feel the pressure on my back that he promised me, and even though it hurts to have my belly pushed into the metal rungs at the base of the seats in front of us, I feel strangely safe. He speaks into my ear. “Play dead, dude.”

Pop-pop-pop…

No, I’m not even remotely safe. But thankfully, I play dead far better than my dog Goliath did when I tried to teach him that trick at the age of seven.

The shots are already earsplitting, and growing louder, as the shooter’s heading our way. I’m so fucking scared I tremble as if I’m having a seizure, and I promised the guy lying on top of me that I’d stay still. I concentrate on taking short shallow breaths, one after another, in my effort to stop shaking. To stay frozen—the way my heart has been since I pulled Ginny to the floor and promptly let go of her hand so I could curl up into a tight fetal ball.

Somebody near me sits up, scrambles to his knees, and impulsively crawls toward the far aisle.

Pop-pop-pop…

“Bang, bang…you’re dead.” The voice comes from directly above me; it’s blank and monotone and controlled. The snicker that follows is chilling. I want nothing more than to throw the big guy off my back and run like hell toward the double doors, but I just keep on going with the short, shallow breaths and stay as still as I’ve ever been in my life. The guy on top of me is totally exposed; I can’t move because if I do, I’ll cheat him out of his life, for sure. Which is so not cool when he’s trying to save mine.

I smell blood. Never noticed the smell of blood before. It reminds me of Grandma’s penny collection…if it got spilled onto the sticky floor of the theater. The scent of old copper is everywhere like wet pennies strewn all around me on the floor.

Pop-pop-pop…

Shooter’s practically on top of us now. Don’t move…don’t move…don’t move…

“Dear God, help me!” This request seems to catch the shooter’s attention, and he turns around and steps away from us. I curse myself for feeling as relieved as I do.

Pop-pop-pop…

We wait and it seems like forever. We wait as voices beg and plead and pray and he shuts them up with bullets. We wait as the sound of shots moves to the front left near the exit, where I figure he’s shooting at anyone who tries to get out through the double doors.

And then, for a second, it’s quiet.

“Now…” The big guy whispers, but the sound seems to blast into my left ear. “We have to make our move now.” Before I agree, the heaviness of his body lifts and I feel cold and exposed. “This is our chance to get outta here…”

His hand is attached to the back of my wrist, clutching me so hard I’ll have fingerprint bruises for a week…if I live so long.

“Come on! Get up!”

“Ginny…” I whisper back. “I can’t leave Ginny.”

He reaches out to touch the flesh mound in the center of the pool of blood and whispers firmly, “Ginny’s already gone.” He releases my wrist just long enough to adjust his grip. “I worked here last year. I know how to get away. Come on…”

He pulls me to my knees and drags me. Ginny. I only think her name this time because I’m literally too petrified to speak. We crawl like two sneaky toddlers through the narrow alley between the rows of seats and then down the outside aisle, over a couple of bodies—small ones, kids’ bodies that are way too still and cool—and to a trapdoor at the base of the stage. It’s a small gray square in the wall. I never noticed it before, and I’ve been to the Harrison Theater at least five times this year to see Ginny’s roommate perform. The guy beside me pulls out a pocketknife and fiddles silently with the screws holding the little door in place.

Pop-pop-pop…

The thin slab of metal covering the small door drops to the floor and contributes a new sound to the quieting chaos. It clangs in such a way that nobody left alive in the theater could miss it.

“Where do you think you’re going?” The gunman has stopped shooting, and I hear the heavy stomping of combat boots coming toward us, down the aisle. Not running…just walking in swift, determined steps. My guardian angel grabs me and stuffs me through the opening in the base of the stage. I land on my chin in a pile of music stands. My helper isn’t far behind in squeezing his bulky frame through the small square in the wall. We’ve landed in some type of a cluttered crawl space, maybe the orchestra pit, and I struggle to make my way through the music stands in the pitch-blackness. When we’re halfway through the mess of metal, crawling through unruly stacks of folding chairs, the overhead light in the pit flicks on.

“What’s going on in the theater, you guys? It’s mega-loud in there.” A clueless college girl’s voice. I can’t see her clearly because the sudden bright light stings my eyes, making me squint.

“Get out of here, lady—just run for it!” shouts my guardian angel. We can’t run yet because we’re still trapped in a dense forest of metal.

“I see you two… I see you.” The shooter’s voice is deadly calm. “And I think I know you.”

Pop-pop-pop…

For some reason, he doesn’t climb into the orchestra pit to come after us but pushes the gun through the opening and pulls the trigger three times. Bullets ricochet off the metal chairs and stands. Again I freeze, not sure which way to go. I’m grabbed fiercely by my right forearm and dragged over the remainder of the chairs to the door.

We take to our feet and start to run. Soon we’re holding hands in a narrow hallway…running for the back of the building…and then we’re outside in the breezy darkness, still clinging to each other. We sprint through the muddy grass in the direction of the parking lot.

And we stop at an old model, cherry-red muscle car—a Dodge Charger.

“Get in!” His voice is husky as he opens the passenger door, pushes me inside, and quickly shuts it. Then he scrambles over the hood to get to the driver’s side. He flings the door wide open and jumps into the seat, not gracefully, but with more speed than I could ever have imagined was possible for a guy his size. Adrenaline counts for a lot… And soon we’re driving off the college grounds, out of the supposed safety of the “Batcheldor College Bubble,” and into the real world.

Purchase

Meet the Author

Mia Kerick is the mother of four exceptional children—one in law school, another at a dance conservatory, a third studying at Mia’s alma mater, Boston College, and her lone son still in high school. She has published more than twenty books of LGBTQ romance when not editing National Honor Society essays, offering opinions on college and law school applications, helping to create dance bios, and reviewing English papers. Her husband of twenty-five years has been told by many that he has the patience of Job, but don’t ask Mia about this, as it is a sensitive subject.

Mia focuses her stories on the emotional growth of troubled young people and their relationships. She has a great affinity for the tortured hero in literature, and as a teen, Mia filled spiral-bound notebooks with tales of tortured heroes and stuffed them under her mattress for safekeeping. She is thankful to NineStar Press for providing her with an alternate place to stash her stories.

Her books have been featured in Kirkus Reviews magazine, and have won Rainbow Awards for Best Transgender Contemporary Romance and Best YA Lesbian Fiction, a Reader Views’ Book by Book Publicity Literary Award, the Jack Eadon Award for Best Book in Contemporary Drama, an Indie Fab Award, and a Royal Dragonfly Award for Cultural Diversity, among other awards.

Mia Kerick is a social liberal and cheers for each and every victory made in the name of human rights. Her only major regret: never having taken typing or computer class in school, destining her to a life consumed with two-fingered pecking and constant prayer to the Gods of Technology. Contact Mia at miakerick@gmail.com or visit at http://www.miakerickya.com to see what is going on in Mia’s world.

Blurbs

A Spell for Master Vervain by Lee Welch
Apprentice magicians aren’t supposed to fall for their masters, but after a year of longing, Kit is desperate for Master Vervain. Kit casts a forbidden spell to raise an incubus doppelganger of his master—oh, the things he’ll do with that incubus! But Kit’s invoking forces he can’t control and anything can happen when love and magic are mixed.

Finding the Words by Elizabeth Coldwell
On a simple night out, Brendan’s life changed forever. He gave up college lecturing for the world of private tutoring. He may be a virtual recluse, but at least he’s safe. When student Zack approaches him for help with understanding poetry, he’s reluctant to take him on, afraid any connection to his old life might stir up the memories.

Being around Zack awakens long-buried desires in Brendan. He wants to act on his impulse to get closer, but he needs to find the words to say how he really feels.

The Silent Treatment by Elna Holst
Reverend Jane Sinclair has been preaching nothing but fire and brimstone lately. After being dumped by her long-term partner, her mood has been going from bad to worse, and it deteriorates further when her vicar strong-arms her into going off on a yoga retreat. Once she arrives at Serenity Farms, however, the sultry and playfully dominant yoga instructor soon has her singing quite a different tune. A very, very quiet one.

One Small Step by Riza Curtis
Student mage Ilya regrets not paying more attention in class when he teleports two hundred miles instead of the hundred yards he was supposed to go. Concussed, exhausted, and completely underdressed for the bitter winter weather, Ilya is rescued by the handsome Søren.

Sparks fly between the two mages while Ilya recovers, but Ilya must return home. Unable to use his magic and not skilled enough to attempt teleporting back, even if he could, Søren insists on making the journey with him. But train rides and bandits reveal something more between them.

Shedding Doubt by Danielle Wayland
Twenty-six-year-old Grayson is on a mission to get the most out of his gym membership, but when he goes at it too hard on his first day and slips off the treadmill, embarrassment makes him want to quit. Heath, a gym rat, rushes to his aid and offers to help. Initially suspicious of his motives, Grayson reluctantly accepts his help.

The more time they spend together, the more their friendship grows. They both have internal battles keeping them apart, but a Halloween party might just be the place to have a heart-to-heart.

Academic Temptations by Karmen Lee
Twenty-three-year-old Savannah Archer has kept her sexuality buried for years out of fear of being ostracized by her disapproving community. After getting pregnant in high school and putting off college for five years to raise her son, she is finally attending college—away from the prying eyes.

In her first class of the semester, she meets Anetta Springs, who is not only her professor, but also her academic advisor, and the attraction is immediate. Savannah and Anetta both know that the potential consequences of a teacher-student relationship are life-changing, but a book club and a meddling sister may not give them a choice.

The Sidhe’s Apprentice by Morwen Navarre
For anyone serious about magic, studying with a Sidhe Master is essential. Alistair Brady is very serious, and when he’s chosen at a Calling—a search by the Sidhe for new students—he’s elated. However, his assigned Master, Cianán, doesn’t want a new student and makes it painfully obvious.

Despite Cianán’s disdain, Alistair is determined to learn magic. But Alistair has difficulty finding the place inside where magic lives, and even the simplest spells continue to elude him. He just needs to figure out what’s missing, while trying not to let his growing attraction to the cold and aloof Cianán show. It takes a backfiring spell to show both Alistair and Cianán exactly what’s missing to make Alistair’s magic come alive.

Press “Copy” to Begin by Maryn Blackburn
Dr. Marissa Muniz worked hard to earn her Ph.D., so she is rightfully outraged when she detects plagiarism in the work of wealthy grad student. When Muniz confronts Libby Highsmith, the young woman begs for a second chance.

Ms. Highsmith must propose a new master’s thesis and design a project to serve as punitive measures. Muniz accepts the thesis proposal but balks at the project—a replica of the paddle used in private schools and a contract promising secrecy.

Moonbeams over Atlanta welcomes author Nora Phoenix for the next installment of Irresistible Omegas: Alpha’s Pride! Published by Nora Phoenix on October 13, 2018 and is approximately 303 pages.

The Blurb:

An MMM Mpreg romance.

Bray knows what he wants: a sweet, pliant omega who will bear him an alpha heir. But he doesn’t want one now. He’s too young to settle down and just wants to have fun and play. That’s why hooking up with Kean is perfect, even if the beta doesn’t come close to what Bray is usually attracted to.

Kean thought he could keep things casual with Bray, but when he starts yearning for more, Bray makes it clear he’s not interested. When Ruari, a single-dad omega, arrives on the ranch with his baby, Kean instantly connects with him. He breaks things off with Bray to pursue Ruari, leaving the alpha confused and angry. But even though Ruari reciprocates his feelings, Kean can’t get Bray out of his mind.
Ruari doesn’t hesitate when he and his baby are offered a safe place at the PTP ranch. He’s in desperate need of support, especially after he finds out he has the Melloni gene. Meeting Kean makes him want to stay, even though he’s scared his father will find him. But when Ruari runs into the alpha-father of his baby, things get complicated fast.

Bray, Kean, and Ruari try to figure out where they each fit as sparks fly, tempers rise, and a stubborn beta and an equally sassy omega prove to be more than a match for a slightly arrogant alpha. Meanwhile, they and their fellow pack members have to take a stand against a rising threat to the pack. When trouble comes, the pack fights back, but it won’t come without a cost.

Alpha’s Pride is an MMM mpreg romance and the fourth book in the continuing Irresistible Omegas series. All books need to be read in order and are not stand alones. The love story between Bray, Kean, and Ruari ends on a soft cliffhanger in this book and will continue in the next book.

The Review:

Thank you Nora for your ARC Review group. 🙂

5 Stars

First, the warning of the soft cliffhanger is true. Thank you for the warning Nora. I’m not a big cliffhanger person but this series is full of them and I’ve gotten used to it. 🙂 If you are just now getting to reading the series, get all of the books and read in order. You’ll thank me. If you are like me and have been reading the books as they come out, you will be chomping at the bit for the next one.

They are that good.

Now for the meat and potatoes of the review.

We are introduced to a new triad with this story. Bray, the oldest child of Grayson who’s story was the previous one, is an unintentional asshole that you like despite the Alpha arrogance, and is head of security for the pack. Kean is a balls-to-the-wall beta like his younger brother Palani, and works with the pack’s animals and aspires to be a full veterinarian. Then there is Ruari, a runaway omega with a newborn and a few secrets of his own. Their dynamic is a circling of the three of them in different pairs to become the threesome they are meant to be. It’s a slow burn and we were warned that their story is not complete and will be resolved in the next book.

Nora did a great job of keeping us on tender hooks so that we can see the love blossom between them in “real time”. Just like books one and two were given to the original foursome that started this pack towards becoming wolves again, Bray, Kean, and Rauri’s story continues the overall pack dynamics with the outside world as well. We see snippets of Vieno, Palani, Enar, and Lidon’s lives– along with Grayson and his boys, Lars and Sven– as they continue to grow too. We see more of the what the foursome can do when threatened, especially when a pup is involved.

There is sadness and humor, angst and love, and for all the fated mates, continuous working on their respective relationships. It’s not just rainbows and unicorns but a realistic picture of an evolution of pack dynamics, and the individuals who make up this pack, in this universe. The pack is coming together as a pack. I can’t wait to read about the next installment. We are (im)patiently waiting, Nora. *smile*

I write steamy gay romance books and I love it. I also love reading books. Books are everything.

How was that?

A little more detail? Gotcha.

I started writing my first stories when I was a teen…on a freaking typewriter. I still have these, and they’re adorably romantic. And bad, haha. Fear of failing kept me from following my dream to become a romance author, so you can imagine how proud and ecstatic I am that I finally overcame my fears and self doubt and did it. I adore my genre because I love writing and reading about flawed, strong men who are just a tad broken..but find their happy ever after anyway.

My favorite books to read are pretty much all MM/gay romances as long as it has a happy end. Kink is a plus… Aside from that, I also read a lot of nonfiction and not just books on writing. Popular psychology is a favorite topic of mine and so are self help and sociology.

Hobbies? Ain’t nobody got time for that. Just kidding. I love traveling, spending time near the ocean, and hiking. But I love books more.

Wanna get first dibs on freebies, updates, sales, and more? Sign up for my newsletter (no spamming your inbox full…promise!):

Moonbeams over Atlanta welcomes 6 incomparable authors: Rhys Ford, C.S. Poe, Jordan Hawk, TA Moore, Ginn Hale, and Jordan Castillo Price with their anthology Devil Take Me. It released today, October 16, 2018, and is published by DSP Publications. It is approximately 450 pages.

The Blurb:

Temptation lurks around every corner in worlds sometimes dark, sometimes lurid. Giving in is both dangerous and satisfying, though never in the ways one expects. While these enticements offer a vast range of benefits and boons, the cost is a soul and the devil expects his due. Sometimes suave and charming or calculating and cruel, these devils have schemes and desires of their own. They can be creatures to run away from… or toward.

Join the most unique and celebrated authors of LGBT urban fantasy and paranormal fiction for a fast-paced and unpredictable ride, from a city on the other side of reality, to a world suspended in dusk, to a twisted version of the 1960s and 70s.

Meet devils in top hats and waistcoats, a defrocked motorcycle-riding priest, and a genderfluid antihero—among many more. Full of humor, romance, horror, action, intrigue, and magic, these stories have one common element….

They’re one hell of a good time.

Full blurbs included with excerpts from each of the stories!

Cover Artist: Reece Notley

The Review:

I won an ARC of this book in Rhys’s Facebook group contest in exchange for an honest review.

5 Stars

When I read the blurb and noticed the horror portion, I had misgivings. I’m not a horror person: In print or TV/Movies. Along with zombies, they are my number one genre that I don’t really go out and read or watch. Shudder. I will read them–even Zombies–but they have to have a good blurb or story premise. So good that I don’t miss the happy ever after or happy for now. Since I love all the prior works for these authors, I took a chance that I would enjoy them despite that at least one was not going to have my favorite ending.

There’s only one of the six stories that I would label as not having that HEA/HFN ending. Romance is optional but I like to read that most of the time too. It didn’t have romance per se either. But it was still really good. The rest ranged from light-hearted business venture (a hell hound named Fluffpaw) to a race against time (a glowing blue dog-like animal named Blue) to save Wonderland City, and all with the common theme: the Devil bargained for their souls to provide them an opportunity they didn’t have before meeting the stranger with the proposition. The Devil’s ranged from those that MC loved to those you wanted to tear apart. You wanted to tell all of them what were they thinking when they made their bargains. But then, most of them wouldn’t have met their loves or interesting new friends. So, you have to take it that it was meant to be. At least for some of them. 😉

They were all really good. So good that I debated for thirty minutes while I setup this blog post as to whether I wanted to give it a 4.5 or a 5 out of 5 stars. They made you think what would you do if you were dying and wanted to live. Or if you would be tempted to live longer than a lifetime. One thing to note. Read the fine print. 🙂

I would definitely buy it (I might still buy it), and you should as well. It is definitely worth the read. It was definitely “one hell of a good time.”

Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series, including Murder and Mayhem, a 2016 LAMBDA finalist. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.

She’s also quite skeptical about bios without a dash of something personal and really, who doesn’t mention their cats, dog and cars in a bio? She shares the house with Yoshi, a grumpy tuxedo cat and Tam, a diabetic black pygmy panther, as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird and enjoys murdering make-believe people.

Ginn Hale lives with her lovely wife in the far northern reaches of the Pacific Northwest. She spends the many cloudy days observing fungi and she whiles away the rainy evenings tinkering with words.

Her first novel, Wicked Gentlemen, won the Spectrum Award for best novel. She is a Rainbow Award winner as well as a Lambda Literary Award finalist. Her most recent publications include the Lord of the White Hell and Champion of the Scarlet Wolf as well as the Rifter trilogy: The Shattered Gates, The Holy Road and His Sacred Bones.

She is also the voice of 12 year-old Lauren in the podcast, Lauren Proves Magic Is Real

C.S. Poe is a Lambda Literary and EPIC award finalist author of gay mystery, romance, and paranormal books.
She is a reluctant mover and has called many places home in her lifetime. C.S. has lived in New York City, Key West, and Ibaraki, Japan, to name a few. She misses the cleanliness, convenience, and limited-edition gachapon of Japan, but she was never very good at riding bikes to get around.
She has an affinity for all things cute and colorful and a major weakness for toys. C.S. is an avid fan of coffee, reading, and cats. She’s rescued two cats—Milo and Kasper do their best on a daily basis to sidetrack her from work.
C.S. is a member of the International Thriller Writers organization.
Her debut novel, The Mystery of Nevermore, was published by DSP Publications, 2016.

TA Moore genuinely believed that she was a Cabbage Patch Kid when she was a small child. This was the start of a lifelong attachment to the weird and fantastic. These days she lives in a market town on the Northern Irish coast and her friends have a rule that she can only send them three weird and disturbing links a month (although she still holds that a DIY penis bifurcation guide is interesting, not disturbing). She believes that adding ‘in space!’ to anything makes it at least 40% cooler, will try to pet pretty much any animal she meets (this includes snakes, excludes bugs), and once lied to her friend that she had climbed all the way up to Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, when actually she’d only gotten to the beach, realized it was really high, and chickened out.

She aspires to being a cynical misanthrope, but is unfortunately held back by a sunny disposition and an inability to be mean to strangers. If TA Moore is mean to you, that means you’re friends now.

Jordan L. Hawk is a nonbinary queer author from North Carolina. Childhood tales of mountain ghosts and mysterious creatures gave them a lifelong love of things that go bump in the night. When they aren’t writing, they brew their own beer and try to keep the cats from destroying the house. Their best-selling Whyborne & Griffin series (beginning with Widdershins) can be found in print, ebook, and audiobook at Amazon and other online retailers.

Author and artist Jordan Castillo Price writes paranormal thrillers colored by her time in the midwest, from inner city Chicago, to small town Wisconsin, to liberal Madison. Her influences include Ouija boards, Return of the Living Dead, “light as a feather, stiff as a board,” girls with tattoos and boys in eyeliner.

Jordan is best known as the author of the PsyCop series, an unfolding tale of paranormal mystery and suspense starring Victor Bayne, a gay medium who’s plagued by ghostly visitations. Also check out her new series, Mnevermind, where memories are made…one client at a time.

Moonbeams over Atlanta welcomes Piper Scott and Virginia Kelly with their collaboration, Clutch, the start of a new series called Forbidden Desires. It released today and is independently published. It is approximately 239 pages.

The Blurb:

Bookish, snarky, and fiercely independent Nate Boudreaux leads a solitary life. Between teaching classes at the university and working toward his PhD, he doesn’t need a partner to occupy his time, and he certainly doesn’t need a man like Alistair Drake complicating his future.

Alistair Drake, black sheep of the tremendously wealthy Drake family, is more interested in adding another notch to his bedpost than another zero to his bank account. When a Grindr message brings him to Nate’s doorstep, then straight to his bed, he has no reason to believe that what they share will be more than a simple hookup, until, three months later, a tug on his soul informs him otherwise.

For the Drake family has a secret—one that will force Nate and Alistair together as much as it will demand that they be torn apart. One that Alistair and his brothers have carried all their lives… and one that Alistair and Nate’s future children will carry, too.

Bound to each other by the three precious impossibilities, Nate and Alistair have no choice—no matter the consequence, they will fight for their forbidden clutch.

Clutch is a 64,000 word steamy omegaverse mpreg-ish romance that will leave you in stitches. It contains a Grindr hook-up gone very wrong (or very right); giant magical lizards; a pig named Olive; a wank throne; and a HEA, right down to the white picket fence.

The Review:

I won an ARC of this book in a group contest in exchange for an honest review.

5 Stars

So, I was in this group on Facebook when someone who beta-read for it posted about how they liked this story. As part of the descriptor, they mention dragons. Sold. The mention of the wank throne was secondary. *big smile*

I went found the group it was going to be posted and posted. Later, I got notified that I had won a copy. 🙂 I was so happy. I got the book and then got inundated with work. Finally, I got time to read and finished it two sittings.

It was fun, witty, and heart-breaking in places. It was a great pacing for a hookup from Grindr, hot cum, and what happens when you have life-changing secrets. The secondary characters and place descriptions almost stole the story. You have got to read about Olive the pig and the wank throne. Definitely the highlight of the story after the main plot.

It really is mpreg-ish. Even if that is not your thing, you might want to read it anyway. The ‘pregnancy’ resolves near the beginning of the story, and then the focus is fairly focused on these two different men: Nate, a human, and Alistair, a dragon, becoming more than that first time together. The world building is great and paces with the storyline wonderfully. Other family members pop up through out and there are a few I would like to know their story.

I won’t talk anymore so that I won’t spoil anything. I will say that you must read this book. Flying magical lizard shifters, cheeky omegas, and mates are wonderfully blended to a new and different omegaverse story with a happy ending. I’m so looking forward to the next one that I’m probably going to be messaging the authors to see when it’s coming.

Piper Scott debuted as a trio of authors looking to write together for fun. Their collaboration led to three novella-length books (Love Me, Save Me, and Keep Me,) before life sent them in different directions, leaving just one author with an omegaverse plot bunny that wouldn’t leave her alone. Obey was born several months later… but the plot bunny never left–it multiplied.

Left to her own devices, Piper Scott writes scorching but heartfelt contemporary omegaverse romance about men you can’t help but fall in love with.

All Piper Scott stories are interconnected. The recommended reading order is as follows:

Rutledge Brothers Series:
Love Me > Save Me > Keep Me

His Command Series:
Obey > Beg > Stay > Heal > Breathe

Single Dad Support Group Series:
The Problem > The Proposal > The Solution > The Decision

Virginia is the alter ego of Lynn Van Dorn, writer of MM contemporary romances. Virginia listens to the voices in her head that are far too fantastical and silly for Lynn. If it’s mystical or otherworldly, Virginia is all for it.

In her spare time (ha!) she herds three cats, twelve rats, a pesky husband, and a son. Also a host of noisy fictional characters.

So, I had planned on writing some this month, get my act together for this author takeover for Beautiful Skin (thank you Wendy Stone for running it!), and post more about what is going on.

You know how plans go, right?

What’s an author takeover? Well, in Facebook, there’s a group called RGR – M/M and LGBT Book Events that’s attached to RGR (Rainbow Gold Reviews) that I’ve been a reviewer with for the last almost 5 years (it’s been that long, wow). Authors spend scheduled time talking about the theme and their books. Today, we are celebrating the Beautiful Skin Anthology that released late August 2018. Come join us!

Details below. You do have to be a member to participate, but it’s a public group. Join and us admins will add you to it. *wink*

***Author Takeover Event***

Saturday September 22nd here in this group
Stop by to celebrate the “Beautiful Skin’ anthology with these amazing authors!

I’m working on the next Persons of Color Anthology that’s paranormal-based. I’m not sure when I will finish. I’ll have to see. Work has been… busy. We’ll just leave it at that. There’s some personal family stuff that I’ve been dealing with and so my plate has been full. Since writing relaxes me, I’m going to try to find time to work on stuff this weekend in between things. I will definitely be in a much better place if I can accomplish things. 🙂

As always, I will try to do more blog posts, maybe restart my blog story or start a new one, and be around more. It’s fun to sink into the world of reading and writing. I miss it.

Moonbeams over Atlanta welcomes Rhys Ford and the next book in the 415 Ink series: Savior. It release day today with it publishing everywhere on September 18th 2018 by Dreamspinner Press, and is approximately 220 pages. See my review for Rebel, the first book in the series here.

The Review:

Rhys provided the story to me for an honest review.

5 Stars

As I mentioned in the review of Rebel, I binged-read it and Savior with the intent on getting off my duff and publishing an ARC review on the day of release., since I have to read in series order. It doesn’t matter if they are standalone and can be read in any order, I have to read them in order. I just like to have the whole picture. Always been like that. I’ve been known to wait to get all the books in an established series before I start the first one… but I digress.

So, I’ve done it. I’m going to have this review posted the day of release. I feel accomplished. This is in spite of insane work hours and too many dental issues to name, as I recover from the latest root canal writing these posts. And now, the Review:

This is story of 415 Ink tattoo artist apprentice Rob Claussen and Mace Crawford, a San Francisco firefighter who works with Rey from the previous story. Mace’s back story is full of strife and provides Rhys’s signature storytelling and angst that we’ve seen from her prior series. It’s heart-wrenching but worth the high intensity that is Mace and the start of his relationship with Rob, although Mace being an owner and Rob an employee of the shop throws in additional layers of issues these two lovers have to overcome. I especially love the storming sex scene that you will just have to read to appreciate. Their story is on the explosive side where neither one was looking for a relationship, but it fits their personalities and their own ride to their happy ever after they didn’t know they wanted until it was dropped in their laps. We find out more about the brothers and what secrets they are hiding, not only from themselves, but the people they call family. I very much love how family is what you make and not necessarily whom you were born too. They all have issues and trauma from their childhoods. It’s great to find out as they fall in love. I can’t wait for the next pair. Perhaps there will be a threesome in the wings of this series? One can hope. 🙂 (Yes, Rhys, that was a hint.)

Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series, including Murder and Mayhem, a 2016 LAMBDA finalist. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.

She’s also quite skeptical about bios without a dash of something personal and really, who doesn’t mention their cats, dog and cars in a bio? She shares the house with Yoshi, a grumpy tuxedo cat and Tam, a diabetic black pygmy panther, as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird and enjoys murdering make-believe people.

Moonbeams over Atlanta welcomes Rhys Ford and the beginning of a new series: 415 Ink with the first book Rebel. It released on December 29th 2017 by Dreamspinner Press, and is approximately 220 pages. Stay tuned tomorrow for a review of Savior, the second book in the series. 🙂

The Review:

Rhys provided the story to me for an honest review.

5 Stars

When I got the opportunity to receive the ARC for Savior and decide to attempt a release-day review (I try, but sometimes I fall behind), I realized that I hadn’t read and reviewed Rebel’s ARC either. I ultimately bought it and then forgot to do that review. Real Life got in the way and it’s been a helluva year. I’m sure some readers can agree.

So, I think, “Great! I’m a series completionist. I’ll try out this new series of Rhys and get that elusive release-day review in too.” Two birds with one stone, and all that. (The blurb for Rebel did help tip me over to have a goal of one day in 2018 getting my first tattoo.)

It’s a good thing Rhys sent it early August for Savior so it gave me time to get both of them read. 😀 I just need to work on the scheduling reviews earlier part… and now, on to the review.

We meet Rey Montenegro, firefighter extraordinaire in San Francisco, California and former flame for tattoo artist Gus Scott, who returned to his family’s tattoo shop at 415 Ink to work on his personal demons and issues. One of those demons was how the relationship ended with Rey. In the midst of Rey and Gus circling each other to actually talk about the past, they find that family is key and it’s the family you make that heal your heart. There’s angst as only Rhys does, a romance that is slow to rekindle, and a new world and characters to learn about. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about all of the “brothers” and how they banded together to create the family Gus returns to and Rey becomes a part of. I love how Gus and Rey get together: How Rey helps out Gus with Chris, Gus’s son, with no expectation of returning to the relationship that Rey ended suddenly three years prior. It’s a slow revival of trust as Gus and Rey open themselves to finally allow their relationship to be what they need it to be. It’s not explosive. It’s not sudden. Rey has to earn Gus’s trust again. It’s a great story to set the stage for the rest of the 415 Ink family: Ivo, Bear, Mace, and Luke. I was glad I could run right to the next book in the series to continue the story that gripped my imagination with it’s realism. This is definitely a great world to read about and the romance is hot too. 😉

Overall, I give Rebel 5 out of 5 stars.

Note: As of this blog posting, Rebel is on sale for $1.99 at all retailers. I would snatch it up while you can. I don’t know when the sale will end, so go quick.

Rhys Ford is an award-winning author with several long-running LGBT+ mystery, thriller, paranormal, and urban fantasy series, including Murder and Mayhem, a 2016 LAMBDA finalist. She is published by Dreamspinner Press and DSP Publications.

She’s also quite skeptical about bios without a dash of something personal and really, who doesn’t mention their cats, dog and cars in a bio? She shares the house with Yoshi, a grumpy tuxedo cat and Tam, a diabetic black pygmy panther, as well as a ginger cairn terrorist named Gus. Rhys is also enslaved to the upkeep a 1979 Pontiac Firebird and enjoys murdering make-believe people.